Opalescent
by AliasStars
Summary: Len's a cold, cynical demon, forced to remain caged in and be part of a humiliating circus act. Every day is a meaningless rush until the Ringmaster drags in a lovely human girl with opalescent eyes to be his playmate. As a sinful romance unfurls between human and demon, Len must find a way to protect this new, fragile thing in his life before she's torn away like everything else.
1. The New Girl

Opalescent

**Len's a cold, cynical demon, forced to remain caged in and be part of a humiliating circus act. Every day is a meaningless rush until the Ringmaster drags in a lovely human girl with opalescent eyes to be his playmate... As a sinful romance unfurls between human and demon, Len must find a way to protect this new, fragile thing in his life before she's torn away like everything else...**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**The New Girl**

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><p>From where he's sitting, Len can smell blood. It isn't much, but it's enough to give him slight chills. No doubt that will be his next meal. No matter how many times he's said so, the Ringmaster forces him to drink blood. He isn't a vampire; that adds insult to injury. What he really wants is actual human food. After being on Earth for so many years, he's developed a craving for pizza. His stomach turns at the thought of drinking even more of the disgusting crimson liquid.<p>

As Len pushes his messy hair away from his forehead, he notices that his hair has grown quite long in the demeaning cage. Of course, they will never cut it. But the longer his hair grows, the closer he comes to being an actual demon again. He tugs the hair tie off his wrist and wraps it around the extra hair against his neck, letting it thump in a small ponytail against his skin. Now his curved horns are exposed, just as the Ringmaster likes it. He wants everyone to see the freak he is. A freak.

A noble, proud demon turned into a freak for a human's amusement. The thought enrages Len, but he's too bitter to care anymore. No company in the terrible cage has hardened his heart into practically ice at this point. It used to drive him mad; he had been a young demon, after all, only a hundred and thirty one years old.

"Hey, _freak! _You ready, yet?" Len's fists clench, and his claws dig into his impenetrable skin. The cuffs are special, having sapped his immense power. They hold all the power. If only he could break out of the wretched cuff, he would be so powerful that he could annihilate the whole circus. But with even one, he had the power of a normal, weak human. It took only two guards to overpower him, and after a while, Len just stopped running. It wasn't worth it.

"I asked you if you were _ready, _freak! I want an answer." Len growls loudly as the collar around his neck is yanked. His eyes flash red with bloodlust and his sharp canines are easily visible as he glares furiously down at the demeaning black-haired human.

The boy swallows; Len may not have his power, but he's terrifying. "Yeah, whatever. Growling like a right dog, are ya? You'll like today's acts. You get to do tricks for us. Like a dog." He chortles. Len growls even louder now, the tremors ripping through his chest as he's yanked out of his cage. Last time, he was forced to don glitter and let the audience play with his horns. They wrenched his mouth open and let the humans run their fingers over his teeth.

What goodies would they have in mind for him today, he wondered?

Who cares? Why doesn't he just kill himself in that stupid cage? Who would care? And that would leave the Ringmaster down his most popular act. Len is very good-looking too, so he's especially popular around the girls who want to play with his hair and mess with his horns. With his ruffled hair, thunderstorm and lightning blue eyes, and demonic charm, it is no question that Len has the audience in his favor.

"And we now present the dangerous demon lured very clearly from the depths of Hell themselves!" Len supposes it's a good thing they didn't shave his head to expose the horns, because then he would lose a lot of his popularity factors.

How he loathes the Ringmaster. There is no one Len would rather have dead. The audience is sick, the Ringmaster is a greedy, arrogant degenerate, and...

Who is _she?_

Len's eyes are drawn to the human girl seated beside the Ringmaster, her hands loosely bound in front of her and her head down as if she's scared to look up. But when she does look up, Len thinks that he finally has a little bit of salvation from the hellhole he's in.

The first word that comes to mind is _opals_; her eyes shimmer and ripple like they change color when she moves her head. They are like the very gemstone, iridescent.

Len's thrown forward onto his knees, and the spell is broken. He growls again, fangs poking past his lips and horns exposed in the tinny light. The boy from before comes out and decides today is a day to taunt Len. He smirks, lifting a pale of water and splashing it all over the demon. The humiliation of it all enrages Len to the point where a roar thunders from his chest and his eyes flash blood red in his fury. But there's little else he can do.

_She's_ disgusted, and it makes him feel better. There's loathing in her eyes, and it's not directed towards him, but the Ringmaster. Len exhales as another bucket soaks him down to his spine. He grimaces but takes it, trying his hardest not to react to the water. The audience quickly grows bored, and the Ringmaster's smirk fades. He frowns, gesturing to call for the next act.

"Now, we will see this brute feed on animal meat." Len hates this routine with a passion. They give him a chunk of meat of sorts and expect him to tear into it brutally, making use of his weakening canines. It does help him put the fangs into use, but there's something he despises about being abused like this, and who wouldn't. The girl's opalescent eyes are glittering with something Len cannot place, something he hasn't seen for such a long time...

...Care?

Len rips into the meat, trying not to focus on the audience, but rather on his teeth. He gives them ample practice and gives the audience a show as he tears apart piece by piece, wishing it were the Ringmaster he was tearing into instead. He can hear them gasp, he can hear the murmurs. That word ... _Freak _... is thrown around without abandon. Of course, before he's allowed to go back, he's forced to do menial, idiot tricks like he's a right animal. But eventually, it's over, and Len, clothes still singed from jumping through rings of fire, is allowed back into his pathetic cell.

But this time, he has a visitor.

"Len," the Ringmaster greets him amiably, but Len knows it's just an act. Because within a second, the Ringmaster slaps him across the face. If Len wasn't in such a pathetically weak human form, he would have lashed out, claws and all, and ripped into the Ringmaster's neck. But as it is, he stays silent, growling in such a quiet tone that the Ringmaster cannot hear him. "Len, when I tell you to react, I want you to react. Even if you are not irritated by the water, I still expect a reaction from you, do I make myself clear?" His tone is still as sweet as poisoned honey.

Len's fury radiates through his eyes, but the defeated demon he is, he nods. There is little else he can do.

The man is a monster. He has killed more people than Len's entire race has or ever will kill.

"Also, I brought you a playmate."

Len feels a flutter in his chest when he sees the girl with the beautiful eyes thrust into his cage along with him, a tangle of thin arms and legs. She looks petrified, but also at the same time, she looks relieved. Len stares coldly at the Ringmaster; what is he thinking? This girl is now a subject of his brutality as well? Len feels even more defeat than he had before. Even if he wanted to, there is no way that he can help this girl in his state.

"Take good care of her," the Ringmaster smiles cruelly. "She will be part of the act eventually, so try not to eat her, dog."

Len wants to kill her right then and there; death would be far better than being forced to take part in the cruelty of the circus. There is no doubt that whatever torture can take place, this girl will be forced to undertake it. She's a girl, too... He doesn't want her to be put through this. If only he could crush her neck, but he's not strong enough to do even that. Yet, there's a selfish part of him. There's a selfish part that is glad that she's going to go through this with him. There's a selfish part that had craved company, and now has received it.

He has never been so guilty to have a wish granted.

He wishes he had the choice to be killed by something.

But unfortunately, he never had that choice.

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><p>Rin cannot be more disgusted with the treatment of the person -demon?- that sits across from her. At the moment, he looks more like a curious child as he examines her with cold eyes. They are a dark blue-gray thunderstorm, with streaks of lightning. Is he really a demon? Out there, he certainly looked like one, with blood trailing from his mouth and eyes the same color.<p>

After the Ringmaster left, there was an awkward silence, and there is still one. The two observe each other, neither quite giving much of a reaction. All Rin wants to do is bask in the relief of the Ringmaster leaving her; after she was kidnapped, this is the first time the wicked, ruthless creature has left her alone. The sickly feeling that hovers over Rin has not yet left her. She doesn't know if the demons thoughts are all impure as well, but somehow, she cannot imagine that they would be.

Somehow, she trusts this demon more than the Ringmaster.

Rin figures she should introduce herself. But as soon as she inches closer, he growls at her, sending her back to her corner. At this distance, she can see the horns curling from his head, pointing upwards towards the top of the cage. He's very handsome, all tousled golden hair and clear skin. There are rusty cuffs around his wrists that glow, Rin assumes, with his power. That must explain his weakness.

"What have they done to you," she finally murmurs, and he stares at her unfathomably for the longest time. The smirk that wrestles with his mouth is bitter and defeated, rancorous and even a little foreboding.

"The same thing they're going to do to you," he whispers, still smiling. He turns to fully look at her, then, gazing through his long bangs at her face. "What is your name."

Rin shifts, her knees rubbing against the stone. "Rin."

"Welcome to Hell, Rin." he says before turning over and ignoring her. She sees his stiff shoulders, hears his low growl as he stares outside of the cage at the stone outside. She cannot blame him; he's completely broken, it would seem.

Now the only question left for Rin to wonder is...

What are they going to do with her?

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><p><strong>Um... Demon Len FTW?<strong>

**I love him... Always wanted a story with Len as a demon... So... Here it is! :D**

**This might contain dark sexual themes, dark ... gory themes, and hints of torture. If I insult _any of you, _please tell me in a PM.**

**I mostly listened to creepy music box music while I did this, but it's not going to be too horror-y. Just creepy. Sad. Frightening. And wrought with romance, of course. Please review so I know if I should keep going! Thank you:)**


	2. Silent

**So, demon Len FTW! I'm glad you guys liked it? **

**My ALTERNATE ENDINGS reviewer: OTL I'm sorryyyyy ;_; I'm looking for them! I'll post them as soon as possible. **

**On that note, enjoy?...!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

**Silence**

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><p>Nobody tells Len how to live with a companion. Nobody tells Len how hungry, how starved he will be in that small space with Rin. Is there ever a better picture of frailty? No, apparently not. Everything about Rin is devastatingly thin... Her wrists, ankles, her entire form. They never feed her properly- She isn't as <em>important <em>as he. Bitter, sometimes moldy bread for her.

Len briefly considers sharing his food with this scrap of a girl, but the way she picks at her food doesn't make it seem as though she will find his food any more appealing.

_Good, _he thinks. He hopes she dies of starvation before they can throw her into the ring.

There's a smell to Rin... An earthy smell. She comes from the outside. She bears traces of the outside- the slight, bitter and damp smell of rain, the smell of fresh soil and dirt, the smell of grass. Sometimes, she'll hold the bars and poke her face from between the bars to look up at a hole in the tent. Sometimes, sunshine filters in through the hole, and a little spot of gold beams on the floor like a coin. Rin reaches towards the sunlight, her fingers grabbing at something she desperately needs.

Like a flower, reaching towards the sun.

A week after Rin comes, they decide to brand her. Len hopes they'll take her far away from him to brand her, but of course, they do it right there in front of the cage. The boy with the black hair who loves to torment Len is involved in the branding, restraining Rin's arms as they push her hair aside. Len sees the CIR of the brand; it tells the world that she belongs to the circus. That she belongs to the Ringmaster. Len knows this all too well. He has those letters cut not only onto his back, but also into his brain. He will never forget.

When the sharp metal is pressed into Rin's skin, Len lets her screaming wash over him like a tidal wave. He wants to throw up. He wants to feel pity, but he can feel only a terrible, cold satisfaction when they stigmatize her. And then it's over, and Len's satisfaction washes away entirely. Pressing his hand to his mouth, Len bites down harshly on his hand to soothe his sudden surge of emotion. The wound immediately heals itself when his tongue comes into contact with his skin.

He turns; Rin's tears fall into the hay as she silently sobs. Pausing, crouching as though testing, Len scoots closer to her. Brands used to be burned into the skin, but after it was abolished, the circus bounced around the laws and jumped through loopholes to find the answer: cut through the skin instead. Len, with his dimmed power, cannot erase the mark, but he can numb the pain. He lightly touches the tip of the claw to the first letter, C, and bends his head over her skin.

Despite Rin's earthy smell, her blood is sweet, like honeysuckle. Len reminds himself that this is only for the sake of her wound as he traces the letters. Rin gasps, her tears halting as she shudders. When the pain begins to seep out of the wound, she stills and allows his ministrations.

Len lets her hair fall with a thump against her back and sits at a distance, observing the now slightly faded scar. It might have looked as though it would heal. Tricks. It would never heal. It was chronic, and Len can still see it, blazing, red, angry. Rin rubs her wrists and turns to him.

"Have you ever tried to escape?"

The laugh that bursts out of Len is nothing if not sharp. "More times than you could ever imagine, human." She tilts her head to look at him, her shimmering opal eyes like pieces of the night sky, rippling with stars, or a river, weaving its way through the ground. They remind Len of things he so terribly missed when he could have that feeling. She is like a piece of nature, so he can remember that there is indeed a world out there.

"Thank you," her voice is rich with gratitude. Len cannot bring himself to say anything; the last thing she should be doing is thanking him. She should be cursing him for not slitting her throat on that terrible first day. When she is begging to die as Len did once at the feet of the Ringmaster, then she will truly hate him.

The terrible truth settles in on Len; he does not know if he will ever have the willpower to kill Rin, should he have to put her out of her suffering, anymore.

"You know," Rin breaks the silence one day, gazing dully at the light she cannot attain. Her body droops against the bars, and she gazes outside. Len's eyes flicker towards her, and he notices that her voice has a pleasant lilt, like a songbird. He _had _been trying to sleep as she should have been, but... "I wonder what the weather is like outside." Len's skin feels prickly and hot, and he glances upwards, running his arm across his head.

"Hot," he mumbles.

Rin sighs, a long, empty sigh. "I bet... The sky is rich, deep blue..." Her nose wrinkles. "B-But, there's tiny clouds like... Like little sheep, floating across the sky..." She doodles a random curl for a cloud over the space. "And forget-me-nots growing in the grassy grounds around the circus, like there were a year ago when I came here."

A sudden, aching loneliness flits through Len like a firefly trapped in a jar. He wants to tell Rin he understands, but imagining is useless, because you're driven insane by the circus- trapped like a rat.

"Go to sleep," he says brusquely, and Rin rests her head against the bars.

"I'll dream of blue skies, like that little piece up there." Her voice trembles a little, slurred with sleep. Her finger points up at the sky peeking through the holes in the tent. "One day we'll," she yawned, "We'll fly up there."

Len stares at her as she drops into sleep's hands, his mouth twitching ever-so-slightly as that word... _We ..._Played around in his head. The silly girl, she likely wouldn't live more than a week. He wouldn't tell her that, though... She'd be happier flying in the sky than being trapped in hell.

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><p>Rin finds a timelessness in the place. Nothing changes. Occasionally a person will wander in with bread and meat to give Rin and Len. Yet beside the branding, no one comes in. The only sounds she hears are Len's ravenous chewing and, occasionally, his answer when she asks him a question.<p>

She's lonely.

And Len... She looks at him as he eats, him with his dark eyes and his deep-seeded hatred of everything around him. He growls if she comes to close, yanks his hand away if she accidentally brushes against it. She can't forget, though, his mouth against her skin for her sake. How much did that bother him?

"Ah, so you're getting along well with your playmate!" the Ringmaster is suddenly standing in front of Rin and Len's cage, wearing his bland white mask and ostentatious and colorful suit as usual. "Well, at least you're not mauling her."

Len snarls at the Ringmaster, lip curling vindictively over his sharp teeth, yet the RM says not a word as he unlocks the cage. Rin half expects Len to jump the Ringmaster and tear him apart, but Len sits quietly, obediently. _The cuffs, _she realizes suddenly. Without them, Len is just a slightly enhanced boy. He would be easily overtaken by the RM.

Before she can quite piece the whole puzzle together, a collar is being clicked around Len's neck. This suddenly infuriates her. The way they treat him like... The way they throw him food, put him in a cage-

"Don't do that," her voice sounds muted and like a different person is talking. She's surprised by her outburst even as Len's eyes immediately flicker to hers. "You treat him like a right dog. He's more human than you are, though." Len's eyes darken, yet to him alone, his heartbeat increases slightly. It has been many years since someone has spoken in his favor, and a human to that extent. But for that, she will most likely suffer.

The RM stands still, and Rin knows she's made a grave mistake. She wonders if he might slap her so hard she'll have marks like Len does when he defies the RM. She saw, that first day before she was introduced, the way the RM struck Len so hard that he fell sideways.

"He's not a dog," she repeats quietly, head bowed to show respect to someone she would rather spit on. Rin's skin feels the sudden chill of the collar as it is yanked brutally off of Len's neck and replaced over hers. Len hisses, glaring at her with something akin to fury in his eyes. Rin can barely read the threads of panicked warning intertwining with the anger before electricity thrills up her spine, forcing her body straight as a rod and causing her to see stars. Len is crouched when she can see straight again, his muscles taut with tension.

"Silly girl," the RM is smiling, but there is cold, unmasked rage in his eyes when he yanks her down by the hair. "This collar is special for the demon in case it loses control. Unless you want another shock, you will hold your disobedient tongue."

"_He," _Rin manages to hiss out, golden hair framing her face almost artistically. When she can, she will fight him. When she's still a little healthy. When she's broken, she cannot fight. But when she is healthy, she will fight him as much as she can. Whether it's for Len or it's for her, she will not give into this creature so easily.

"What-?" he's gaping at her, his jaw slackening. Rin thinks about smirking, but that will be overkill. She just stares into his eyes.

Len doesn't think he's ever seen defiant eyes like hers before.

"_He," _she repeats, setting her jaw. "Not _it."_

_Shzzzt! _

Len then hears the crackle, followed by a shock that sets ablaze Rin's body. She's framed in light, body thrown back almost unnaturally. As he stares at her, he realizes- so harshly that it's almost painful -that she received this shock because she defended him, a lowly demon. The electricity flowing into her is most likely worse than anything he has ever received in his life.

"Stop," he growls at the RM, and the RM smiles so complacently that Len wants to actually murder him. He feels the bloodlust shoot through his veins, across his eyes, staggeringly, and he isn't sure why. "Give _me_ the collar." He puts heavy emphasis over the word 'me' so the RM will listen. He doesn't.

"No," the RM stretches out the word, lips curling over his teeth. "I fear the girl spoke out of turn, Len. Sit silent and watch." The RM lets Rin gasp for a whisper of a breath for a millisecond before he presses the button again. Before Rin can even utter a syllable, she's being shocked senseless again. And above it all, they will still send her out into the ring. Fish out of water.

There isn't a thing Len can do as he watches this girl before him, this person who, for the first time, defended his rights. His horns suddenly feel heavy, like they're weighing down. He's a burden.

Finally, Rin is released from her electric person and drops to the bottom of the cage, limbs shaking uncontrollably, unable to even lift herself up. Len shakes out of his still uselessness. His hand hovers over her head as though he might touch her, but his hand fists and he quickly draws it back to his chest. He cannot touch her. He _cannot. _He_ will_ have to tell her that he is not worth it. The fisted hand craves to put a complimentary hole into the RM's face, but he won't do that. He's learned what will happen- To punish him, the RM will just set Rin on fire.

"She looks nice," the RM muses. "I'll let her wear it for now." Rin's ragged breathing is cut short when she's yanked to her feet and made to walk. Her face is smudged, her teeth wrenched into a grimace. She's silent, for now. Len, on his part, is unnerved by the fact that she can walk; then, he realizes she can't walk. She's struggling to even move, but the RM is pushing her to drag herself out to the ring. His blood pounds to his eyes yet again, but he forces it under control. "If you're smart," he says pleasantly, "You'll get that look off your face and smile, dear."

Rin glares, coughing, but right before Len, a shaky smile crosses her face and she beams at the crowd behind the tent, her fingers trembling in the cuffs behind her back. Len feels her tangible pain and turns away, instead staring at the floor. Rin, made to smile, is the worst thing he's seen yet. After spectating her torture and the branding, Rin's grin crushes what's left of his hope to nothingness. He can feel it, Rin's energy despite her smile, her thirst for revenge. He knows it well; it's the only thing that's been pushing him through the deplorable days. Len squints into the light, the light that glints off of Rin's new neckpiece.

The show is about to start; whatever Rin felt before this will be nothing compared to the ring.

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><p><strong>Just like the other stories, this one will start slowly and short and grow longer... I hope you guys like it! I for one really like the idea of two prisoners in a forbidden love haha :D <strong>

**Also... Demon Len is hot. So. **

***cough* **

**I hope you enjoyed the little cotton balls of fluff that I tried to add? **

**Criticism and reviews in general are loved and accepted! **

**~Alias**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well. I hate to also be THIS author, but I'm slamming you all with a huge apology.**

**In case you all didn't know, this site has a ridiculous feature where... Um, well- After sixty days, it'll delete 'stale' stories- or stories on the drawing board. Thus, in this manner, I've lost nearly all my stories as it's been more than sixty days. **

**I'm actually wrecked about this, so please don't flame me for being one of the people leaving 'dumb' messages instead of a story. I'm sorry, it's not just upsetting for you; it's a freakin' tragedy for me. **

**So please, please bear with me while I go through the upsetting and frankly strenuous process of rewriting everything I've lost.**

**Thank you.**

**-Alias**


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